A young former finance broker has admitted to stealing the identities of former clients so she could buy two cars, sell them to acquaintances and keep the cash from the sale.
Riyanka Puteri Shiraz, of Canterbury, New South Wales, appeared before Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to two fraud charges.
She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment for each charge.
The fraud occurred between December 2011 and October 2012 when Shiraz worked as a business manager with finance broker We R Finance, said ASIC.
The business placed its staff in motor dealerships to help the dealers’ customers get finance to buy cars.
An ASIC investigation found Shiraz, 22, used tax, employment and income documents and personal details of two former clients to create false loan applications in their names, without the clients’ knowledge or consent.
The applications were submitted to a lender which approved the loans and Shiraz used the money to buy the cars, ASIC said.
We R Finance reported Shiraz’s misconduct to ASIC and helped the corporate watchdog during its investigation.
Shiraz has been granted conditional bail and must appear back at the District Court for sentencing on 4 April.
The commonwealth director of public prosecutions is prosecuting this case.
Since taking over national responsibility for credit in 2010, ASIC has taken action over fraudulent loan applications and similar behaviour. Recent cases have seen individuals criminally charged or banned.
These include Hyuk Hwang, a former Sydney mortgage broker and real estate agent, who was banned in January from engaging in credit activities for three years after an investigation found he was involved in the submission of false documents to secure a loan worth $250,000.
Also in January, ASIC permanently banned Daniel Minh Tuan Nguyen, of Panania, after he was convicted of 10 offences including providing false information and documents to banks to secure approvals for home loans totalling more than $3 million over a five-month period.
